The Energon Pub

[Doubledealer93]

i want to get runabout and runamuck but not SG drift. i dont collect SG for he would not fit into my collection. he will probably be sold or customized.

[Stockade]

Pass! all of these dont interest me.

[SJ21]

Oh man. The club just put me in a spot. I like the idea of Runabout/amok. Do I want to get these or not? They are G1, but I don't remember if they were in the US cartoon at all. Anyone? If they were, I am buying them. If not, pass.

I am completely not interested in Drift.

[Dead Metal]

Oh man. The club just put me in a spot. I like the idea of Runabout/amok. Do I want to get these or not? They are G1, but I don't remember if they were in the US cartoon at all. Anyone? If they were, I am buying them. If not, pass.

I am completely not interested in Drift.

They where, but only for a very short time.

[Stormrider]

Can someone explain how to get these two figures? I feel like I am completely out of the loop with TCC.


If I understand correctly - I sign and pay a membership due and will receive one figure. And then I am allowed to purchase the second figure? Are there any catches or disclaimers that I should be aware of such as "We're sorry we ran out of the figures."

[robofreak]

Can someone explain how to get these two figures? I feel like I am completely out of the loop with TCC.


If I understand correctly - I sign and pay a membership due and will receive one figure. And then I am allowed to purchase the second figure? Are there any catches or disclaimers that I should be aware of such as "We're sorry we ran out of the figures."

Yep, you register and get a free figure and then fight the hordes to preorder the others.

[Blurrz]

Yes, you have to have a quick trigger finger on the non-incentive figures. They tend to sell out in the first... hour.

[robofreak]

Yes, you have to have a quick trigger finger on the non-incentive figures. They tend to sell out in the first... hour.

Can we start an angry mob that will force FP to start producing more? I mean, it clear that there is a demand so why not fill it?

[Blurrz]

Yes, you have to have a quick trigger finger on the non-incentive figures. They tend to sell out in the first... hour.

Can we start an angry mob that will force FP to start producing more? I mean, it clear that there is a demand so why not fill it?

One of the reasons, I think why they limit the number of the figures is because of the fiasco with the TCC Astrotrain(actually good figure) and Airazor(good homage) that never sold well, and have been on discount so many time it's not even funny. I'm guessing they mass produced the two as much as they would on a retail toy, and it just did not bring in the numbers. Current TCC toys are somewhat selling well now with generally most of their exclusives tying in to previous year's BotCon sets, seeing as Shattered Glass is being continued, as well as the Elite Guard.

Anyways, since the past tends to repeat itself, and after seeing '10 Counterpunch and '11 G2 Ramjet get snatched up like crazy I feel that.

...we're going to get a lot of angry and pissed off ClassicsUniverseGenerationsRTS fans with a Runabout but no Runamuck.

I could be wrong. Hopefully I am.

[robofreak]

I think if they were to double production, they would be safe. that would be a fair number since I'm sure that it will sell out at that point.

Astrotrain and Airazor were ridiculous in the production numbers.

[bvzxa]

I didn't sign back up this year, but I will sign up because I like Runabout and Runamuck. I wish they altered the mold a bit to really differentiate from Tracks and WJ, but the head mold has got me. SG Drift sounds OK I guess.

I will join for these figures.

[Mkall]

I think if they were to double production, they would be safe. that would be a fair number since I'm sure that it will sell out at that point.

Astrotrain and Airazor were ridiculous in the production numbers.

Apparently in the last year and a half, membership went up 40%, which would explain why things sold out so quickly last time. This year (I hope) they'll be better prepared *crosses fingers*

Fun fact: to get a run of figures made, they need to petition Hasbro, who then petitions Takara, who then petitions their factories to make the run. The factories are not keen on making such limited runs because it's not as profitable for them (same set up time required for a run of 15,000 vs 150,000) so Takara does this (and this is verbatim to Brian Savage) as a favour to Hasbro.

Also Botcon, free figs and club exclusive figs are all shipped to the Club at the same time. They want to get it split into two waves so that the club figs arrive in jan and the Botcon figs arrive in time for Botcon, but it hasn't worked out so far.

[alldarker]

IIIII SSSOOOOO WWAAAANNNTT those classics R&R figures... but how can I obtain them...
I'm from the Netherlands

Yep. Yes. I feel that pain.

Hasbro is een stom, stom bedrijf.

ken jij nog iemand in nederland die al is ingeschreven?
do you know anyone in Holland already registered?

Seriously, what is the problem here, really? Membership of the OTCC is open to the whole world. And the Euro to Dollar exchange rate hasn't been this good in a long time. The over-seas cost of membership is $78.00, which is around €53,25. Seems to me like a pretty good deal for the 6 magazines and a free exclusive (and desirable) toy, INCLUDING shipping! Still, if that's too expensive for you, good luck in finding a better deal to get these.
Living in the Netherlands is often/always a good reason to be disgruntled with Hasbro, true (considering even the damn DotM deluxes cost €19,99~$30.00 in our 'lovely' Dutch toy stores!!!), so this seems a pretty fair deal to me.

I've often considered it, but I've never really felt the earlier OTCC figures were worth becoming a member for. But the chance to get R & R is definitely worth buying an overseas membership to me (and a whole lot more value for money that Takara's Million Publishing exclusive United Stepper which I'm also expecting)!

[Jazz-1982]

I would love to get my hands on these but I'm not going to bother as I don't want to pay the extra $ for exclusives.

These guys should have been part of the regular line.

[Razorclaw0000]

The only answer to this is to open preorders, for a few weeks, and then produce the preordered amount plus an overage of 10%-15%. It's guaranteed money for them.

[LOST Cybertronian]

I think if they were to double production, they would be safe. that would be a fair number since I'm sure that it will sell out at that point.

Astrotrain and Airazor were ridiculous in the production numbers.

@Botcon sent a tweet that they finally sold out of Astrotrain during Botcon. Maybe they just meant what was brought to Botcon as it's still listed in stock on the TFCC website.

[Flux Convoy]

I'm really looking forward to Runabout and Runamuck. I wish I was excited about SG Drift. I like that he'll be played up as an homage to Deadpool. However, I have outgrown that character and should have dropped the title years ago instead of a year ago. At least we are getting more Shattered Glass. I simply wish it was a character I cared about getting made. Like SG Reflector from Real Gear Spy Shot 6.

[robofreak]

Fun fact: to get a run of figures made, they need to petition Hasbro, who then petitions Takara, who then petitions their factories to make the run. The factories are not keen on making such limited runs because it's not as profitable for them (same set up time required for a run of 15,000 vs 150,000) so Takara does this (and this is verbatim to Brian Savage) as a favour to Hasbro.

I don't believe that for a second. That's got to be the most bull crap reason I've ever heard of them creating.

Hasbro Creates the molds, not Takara. The only thing Takara really does is focus on Japan distribution and Masterpiece. Everything else is hand-in-hand with Takara.

If the 1500 production limit is so hard then why make such limited number of those rare Minicons?

However, yes, it is more epxensive to produce a low run compared to a high run of figures. Still the whole chain of command is BS since the club has stated before that Hasbro gives them a list of molds they can use.

I'm really starting to hate the ridiculous excuses the club makes. All I ask for is more consistency from them.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Hate to break it to you, but TakaraTomy does design and sculpt the molds, based on designs on paper submitted by Hasbro. It's been like that since the very beginning.

[robofreak]

Hate to break it to you, but TakaraTomy does design and sculpt the molds, based on designs on paper submitted by Hasbro. It's been like that since the very beginning.

Takara deisgn and produces the molds after both the Hasbro and Takara teams finish a design. I don't believe for a second that Hasbro has to ask Takara about using a mold due to Takara having control over the mold.

If anyone has more control of the molds, it's going to be Hasbro. Hasbro handles distribution on a world wide scale and Takara is only focused on a very small market.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Hate to break it to you, but TakaraTomy does design and sculpt the molds, based on designs on paper submitted by Hasbro. It's been like that since the very beginning.

Takara deisgn and produces the molds after both the Hasbro and Takara teams finish a design. I don't believe for a second that Hasbro has to ask Takara about using a mold due to Takara having control over the mold.

If anyone has more control of the molds, it's going to be Hasbro. Hasbro handles distribution on a world wide scale and Takara is only focused on a very small market.

As molds are made by TakaraTomy, and the fact that TakaraTomy owns the franchise as a whole, Hasbro indeed needs to ask TakaraTomy for permission. Why do you think the packaging always says "Manufactured under license from Tomy Company Ltd."?

[robofreak]

Well, I always Hasbro and Takara's names printed onto the figures. If Takara owned it as a whole then Hasbro's name would not be printed directly onto the figure.

Unless something has changed recently. I haven't made a habit of looking at the stamps on the toys since they've said the same thing pretty much forever.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Bingo. It took a while, but I found the copyright tag on my RtS Tracks:

(c) 2010 Hasbro Inc.
(c) Tomy

It used to be "Licensed by Takara". Also keep in mind that TakaraTomy and Hasbro have a close partnership, but TakaraTomy has the last call concerning molds.

[bvzxa]

Not to be off topic here, but I remember the only line that was Hasbro then Takara was Armada...I think?

[Stormrider]

Yes, you have to have a quick trigger finger on the non-incentive figures. They tend to sell out in the first... hour.

Can we start an angry mob that will force FP to start producing more? I mean, it clear that there is a demand so why not fill it?

One of the reasons, I think why they limit the number of the figures is because of the fiasco with the TCC Astrotrain(actually good figure) and Airazor(good homage) that never sold well, and have been on discount so many time it's not even funny. I'm guessing they mass produced the two as much as they would on a retail toy, and it just did not bring in the numbers. Current TCC toys are somewhat selling well now with generally most of their exclusives tying in to previous year's BotCon sets, seeing as Shattered Glass is being continued, as well as the Elite Guard.

Anyways, since the past tends to repeat itself, and after seeing '10 Counterpunch and '11 G2 Ramjet get snatched up like crazy I feel that.

...we're going to get a lot of angry and pissed off ClassicsUniverseGenerationsRTS fans with a Runabout but no Runamuck.

I could be wrong. Hopefully I am.

Thanks for the info. The past preorders sound sucky. Do you preorder right from the club's website with a quick finger? Reading the posts last week that figures at Botcon sold out quickly got me confused with the ordering process. I wasn't sure if the ordering processes were releated. (I feel like a 4 year old right now).